Journey in the Aether
by RPGgamer69
Summary: A remake of Life in the Aether. Skye mysteriously appears in the heaven-like hostile paradise, Aether. She meets a friend who will embark on a journey with her. Rated T for Mild gore and very light adult themes
1. Chapter 1 The Beginning

Hey guys. My last story was a major screwup, so i'm starting it over, same characters, same plot, except now called Journey in the Aether. Enjoy!

When Skye awoke, she was in heaven, or at least it seemed like it. She checked her surroundings, and saw clouds and islands as far as the eye could see. Where am I?, she thought as she checked herself to find she was wearing plain blue jeans and a worn green shirt. Skye had dark brown hair that flowed right below her neck and sky-blue eyes, hence her name. She was five feet tall, slightly shorter than average. She had a slim, hourglass like figure. Anyway Skye was confused about why she was in this place. What was even more confusing was the fact that she was holding a worn-out book. Upon closer inspection it was titled "The Book of Lore Volume 3." She briefly wondered if there were any other volumes, but was distracted by a nudge at her foot.. When she looked down she spotted a cute-looking bunny. She picked it up and was in the process of examining it when it jumped out of her arms and started...farting?It was flying around and looking as if it where puffing out small clouds of methane. What strange place this is, she thought. All of a sudden she heard rustling sounds to her right. She turned around and saw a strange bird-like creature trying to eat a large plant, but the plant was actually alive! Filled with curiosity, she edged closer to the pair. As she made her way towards the creatures, her foot crunched on some grass underfoot. That was enough to get the bird and plant's attention. They both turned towards her (well the bird did) and started firing purple tipped needles at her! She screamed and tried to dodge them all, but she felt three impale themselves into her right leg, and instantly felt a shooting pain. Her vision all of a sudden turned blurry and purple, and she collapsed. The events that happened next where all hazy. A figure picked her up with some sort of beak, and Skye and felt herself being jostled up and down. She could feel blood running down her leg, and strained to keep her eyes open, but then pain overrode her, and her vision blacked out.

Three minutes earlier.  
Ethan was doing his daily patrol around the perimeter of his rather-large house with his best friend and only companion in the hostile paradise, Spike. Ethan was a tall guy, six feet tall with raven-colored hair and sharp green eyes, and a muscular wore apparel identical to Skye's. Spike was a large bird, called a moa, which, when tamed, could be ridden when a saddle was placed on their backs. Spike was the weakest and most-easiest to find of his kind, being a blue moa, and could flap his wings 3 times before gliding back down gracefully. Ethan was scanning around for one last time before retiring into his house when he heard a feminine scream. Ethan immediately steered Spike to the direction of the screaming, and Spike flew into the air. Ethan was looking for the source when he saw a shocking and horrifying sight. A girl, an actual human girl, was being pelted by poison darts from a moa and a cockatrice. Cockatrices weren't even supposed to be out in daylight! Ethan saw the girl collapse, and made Spike go into a steep dive, where he (Spike) skillfully scooped the girl up in his beak and flew back up. "To the house, boy," commanded Ethan while looking the girl over. She had dark brown hair that he didn't know the length of, due to the wind. He noticed that at least six poison darts had impaled her. That is going to take a really long time to heal, he thought. When they arrived at his house he quickly grabbed her in his arms and took her unconscious form to his bed, a sack filled with Spike's feathers, where he proceeded to carefully take out three darts in her leg, two in her right arm and one near her chest area. He tried really hard not to look in that particular area as he took out the last poison examined the damage done by the didn't look too serious, but if the poison stayed in her body it would eventually go to her brain. I know! he thought. Ethan remembered that he had a remedy bucket, enchanted from the poison of the exact acheor that had been shooting would really have to slay that acheor. He quickly grabbed a skyroot bucket filled with a gold-colored liquid, and made her drink then ran out to his yard and picked some berries from his berry filled a bucket with them and left it by the bed. He then proceeded to examine her, not in the wrong way, mind you. Her hair, as he now found out, went a bit past her shoulders. She was a bit short, but apart from that she looked normal. At least, what he considered normal. He looked down at her hands and was surprised to find a book in her hands. Somehow she had hung on to it through the entire flight. He gently took it from her hands and leafed through the pages. It was blank, except for the front page, witch read "Book of Lore Volume 3 The Aether," but had a small square in it. Hmmm, i wonder if... thought Ethan, as he placed a piece of Aether dirt on the square. All of a sudden words appeared on the pages that read "Aether Dirt: A paler dirt. Aether grass and skyroot trees will grow on it." "Whoa" Ethan said audibly. This book is magic, he thought. His thoughts were soon interrupted by the stirring of the girl.

Well that's a repost. Review, if anyone still even reads this... oh well!


	2. Chapter 2 Separations

I'm back! This is chapter 2 of Journey in the Aether. Without further ado, we're off!'  
Skye's POV  
Skye was having a dream. A very livid dream. In it, it was nigh time. She saw a woman covered with a hood holding a basket with what appeared to be a baby in woman was in a forest and had a scared look on her face. Behind her, a man yelled "run!." the woman's eyes went wide with fear, and she grabbed the basket and began to run. Skye heard a hissing noise, followed by an explosion. The woman turned around, and immediately began to cry. "You fools thought you could escape me?!You were warned!" boomed a voice that made Skye's blood turn cold. "Please!" yelled the woman, "don't hurt her!" "HAHAHAHAHA!" cackled the voice. "Pitiful" it said. What happened next horrified Skye. The creature chasing the woman revealed itself. It was burning really brightly, and it levitated a few inches off the ground. But the scary part happened. It gathered a ball of fire and shot it at the woman. The sight was grueling. The creature then said " to punish you, I will trap your child eternally in the Aether!"  
Ethan's POV  
Ethan looked up from The Book of Lore to see the girl squirming in her bed with a scared expression on her face. He rushed to her side, just as she screamed "NOO!" and bolted up, only to cringe in pain from the darts wounds. "Calm down. Calm down. No one is going to hurt you," soothed Ethan. Slowly but surely, the girl opened her eyes and looked at Ethan for the first time, looking like she'd just seen a ghost. She looked at him for a second, then hugged him in a death-grip. "Whoa there," said Ethan, all the air being forced out of him. "Oh i'm so sorry" Skye said, blushing and letting go of Ethan at once. "Wh-where you the one that saved me?" Skye asked timidly. "Yea, but i think Spike deserves some credit, too" replied Ethan. "Wh-who is Spike?" asked Skye, still shaken from the dream. "Why don't I just show you?" Ethan asked simply. He whistled a special tune that was Spike's signal of being called. Spike landed with a flutter in front of Ethan. "AAAAAH!" screamed Skye, cowering in the corner of the rather large room. "Huh? What's wro- ooh. My bad. Spike, could you please wait outside?" said Ethan, a little apologetically. "Squawk Squawk" said Spike.(Alright, alright). Ethan had an uncanny ability to talk to a few mobs in the Aether, witch had made life much easier. "Come here. Spike won't hurt you. He saved you."  
Skye's POV  
Skye would never forget the image of the bird and plant that attacked her. She would fear them for a very long time. When the boy called one that looked like the bird, but with different colors, she nearly fainted. "What's wro- ooh. My bad." He then proceeded to talk to the bird in squawks. The bird nodded and left. "Come here. Spike won't hurt you. He saved you." Skye was confused. It looked exactly like what had shot the needles at her. Except... it was different color. She slowly stood up. Skye then realized she knew nothing about this boy. "Who are you?" asked Skye. "My name is Ethan. Nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand. Ethan. What a nice name, she thought, as Skye took it, and felt sparks run through her hand as soon as contact was made. "Mine is Skye."  
Ethan's POV  
As soon as Skye took his hand, Ethan felt a jolt of electricity run through his palm . The name suits her and her eyes, he thought, as he said " So why don't we talk a bit you know, find out about each other?" "Sure!" responded Skye. "So first of all, do you know where you came from?" "No. Though i did have a scary dream." "Is that why you hugged me so hard?" Ethan joked." Um, yea" she said,blushing." So do you feel comfortable telling me about the dream now?" asked Ethan. "Sure" responded Skye. She told her all about her dream and the monster. Ethan's face became grim when she mentioned the monster. "So do you know the monster?" asked Skye. "Yea, I know him alright. That monster is-" All of a sudden the wind started blowing really hard inside Ethan's house. The wind started picking up speed, now going at the velocity of a hurricane. "SKYE!" houted Ethan, flying through the maelstrom of his things. But Skye was gone.  
Skye's POV  
Just as Ethan was going to tell her what the monster was, the wind started blowing really hard in his house, soon reaching hurricane speed. "ETHAN" cried Skye, not wanting to lose the only friend she had. She heard him yell her name for a brief second, before an airborne altar hit her on the head and she lost consciousness .

AN: DUN DUN DUN! Cliffhanger! Next is chapter 3!


	3. Chapter 3 One Year Later

_Hey guys! from now on I vowed to at least try to make my stories longer! Yup. So without further ado, where off!_

Unknown's POV  
I stepped out into the bright sunshine of the Aether, letting it's glow encase my body. It felt soothing after being in that silver dungeon for such a long time. Wondering what i was doing in a silver dungeon? I am a Valkyrie, loyal server of the Valkyrie queen, Odasewlaor. Sounds more like a guy name, but we Valkyries would never mention that or face getting stabbed by her golden sword. Today my duty was to patrol around the temple and see if there were any challengers. The system worked like this: if you wanted to challenge the mighty queen, you would have to get past ten of us and collect our medals. Once that is complete you may fight her. If you win(very unlikely) she will hand over her sword and a silver key, witch opens the chest where all our rarities are stored. But that hasn't happened in 13 years. Anyway today I was getting bored patrolling when I see a figure getting hurtled around in the most biggest whirlwind i've seen. Probably a moa. Looks more like a human. Wait a second. That can't be right. There haven't been any humans here since...the foolish couple who had actually dared challenge a sun spirit, the Roses. We witnessed it firsthand. We strongly advised them not to, but they did. They left their only daughter with us and went to challenge him, returning 1 hour later in a big rush, with a sun spirit chasing them. They stole our only black moa and rode it down below...to the place known as the Overworld. It is a place rumored to exist below the Aether, but no one has been able to go there. Why? Because of that sun spirit. As long as he was alive nothing could leave the Aether. He must've killed them, because he returned and stole their daughter from us. We assumed he killed her, but we never found out for sure... ok back to the whirlwind. I was pretty sure that looked like a human. My conscience wouldn't let me ignore it, so I spread my wings and gracefully flew towards it.I came to a halt a few feet from it. What I saw astounded me. It was a human. An actual human. I shook myself out of my stupor and grabbed my iron sword, and begin to hack into the whirlwind. the wind quickly died, but not before throwing the lifeless figure out of the Aether. Or tried to. I peered down the edge only to find the figure falling, then disappear. I was confused, when suddenly it landed above me! I quickly wriggled free from under it. I curiously examined it. Yup, it was a human, and it had a big bump on its forehead. Wait... it had the same facial features as Angeline Rose did. I opened her eyelids and, sure enough, the human had blue eyes, as blue as the sky, just like Phillip Rose...There was no doubt now, I had stumbled across the Rose's only daughter. I knew this day would come. You see, the Phillip and Angeline had figured out how to hurt the sun spirit, but only they knew. We tried their strategy, witch was to hit the ice balls that occasionally came out of it, but we lost four Valkyries trying. We then figured out only a living kin of the Roses could harm it. We had lost hope that their daughter was still alive, but apparently I had found her. I grabbed her frail body in my arms and flew her to the temple, or silver dungeon, whatever. She didn't have armor on, implying that she hadn't been here for kept mumbling about Aether or Ethen or something. I needed to tell the queen about this so we can plan what to do with her. By now I had figured that this child would be the one to rid us of the curse of being unable to leave the Aether, or at least hoped she would. Anyway I arrived at the temple and carried the girl to the queen for inspection. "What is this?" asked the queen, looking her over curiously. " "My queen, I believe I have found the long lost daughter of the Roses. "That can't be!" said the queen disbelievingly. "The sun spirit killed her, didn't he?" " Apparently not. What shall we do with her?" "I believe she should follow in her parents' footsteps. But not as foolishly. We will train her to be the best warrior in the Aether. She will do great things..."

One year later...  
Ethan's POV  
"Woohoo!" yelled Ethan as his white moa, Zeus, launched into the air. Zeus was a slightly better moa, being a white moa, that could fly higher than blue though its gender was unknown, it could lay eggs. Anyway, Ever since Skye had disappeared a year ago, he had been roaming the Aether desperately attempting to find her, but to no avail. But he never lost hope. Ethan had learned to craft quite s few things, such as pickaxes, swords, etc, and now had a full set of zanite armor, a zanite sword, an enchanter, and an incubator, etc.. Looking at the incubator reminded Ethan of his best friend, Spike. Spike had been lost in the tragic run-in with the whirlwind, and Ethan had never seen him since. But Spike was a fighter, and was probably still alive out somewhere. Ethan was doing his daily activities such as feeding Zeus, scanning the area, and looking for any supplies, mostly ambrosium. Ambrosium could be placed at the tip of sticks and casted a glow that made it the main lighting source in the Aether. Anyway he was doing his usual scan when he spotted an entrance to a cave, holystone covered in moss. "Zeus, to the cave, boy," said Ethan, as he steered Zeus into it. "Wait out here, got it? It could be dangerous. "Squawk squ-(but what if-) "No, I don't want to lose you like I did Spike, OK?" "Squawk..." (I guess...) " Alright. Good boy" Ethan said, tossing an acheor petal in the air. Zeus lunged forward with his beak and caught it. The cave looked man-made, with it's long hallways and carved stone. He spotted a chest and started towards it but a small stone that resembled a swet dropped out of the ceiling. It began beeping, and Ethan feared he knew what was coming. "WHAT THE FU-" BOOOOOM! Poor Ethan didn't even get to finish his statement as the stone comically exploded knocking Ethan against a wall. Or it felt like wall. All of a sudden the entrance closed and he felt a stirring behind him. He turned around and was startled to see a huge eye looking at him. But the eye was connected to a giant cube of stone. "WHO DARES INTERRUPT MY SLEEP?! boomed the cube in a voice that sounded like rock grating against rock. "Erm... It is I, Ethan the human." stated Ethan weakly. "WELL THEN, ETHAN THE HUMAN, THIS DUNGEON SHALL BE THY GRAVE" it boomed, then slid forward in midair. He crashed into Ethan, sending him into a wall. Ethan quickly recovered and pulled his Zanite sword out, and started slashing at the cube's eyes. It didn't seem to affect him. "HAHAHAHAHA! STUPID HUMAN, THEE CANNOT HARM ME WITH A PUNY SWORD, FOR I AM A SLIDER!" it cackled. _I'm_ _screwed thought Ethan_as he was continuously thrown against the wall over and over again. Ethan was to the point of losing consciousness, when all of a sudden a figure broke through the walls of the dungeon. Then Ethan lost consciousness.

_AN: Long enough? Anyway, who do you think the figure is? (it's actually pretty obvious) Until next time!_


	4. Chapter 4 Dark Reunion

_Well we're back from the cliffhanger! Without further ado, we're off!_

**Skye's POV**  
Skye was sitting in her room reading one of the many rare books the Valkyries had collected before the curse. The curse cast by the very sun spirit that killed her parents. It all made sense now, ever since that day the Valkyrie found her being tossed around by the whirlwind. The Valkyries had taken her in, helped her recover, told her about her past and made her a warrior. She was really thankful towards them, but she knew that eventually she would have to leave the temple and fulfill her destiny to rid the Aether of its curse. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Skye marked the page on her book, and opened the door. the same Valkyrie that had rescued her a year before came in and said "Queen Odasewlaor wishes to speak with you. It concerns your final exam." "Ok, got it" said Skye, as she stood up and followed the Valkyrie. Her final exam was a test that she was supposed to pass to prove she was ready to venture in the Aether alone. They arrived at the queen's room, with two golden trees that bore(or beared?)golden amber when chopped with a zanite or gravitite axe. The queen was sitting on her throne, waiting they arrived, both kneeled in front of her. "Rise" she commanded, and they did so. The queen began speaking ."Alright, Skye. Your final exam shouldn't be too hard. As you may have noticed, bronze dungeons are spawning at a worrying rate. And it was true. Bronze dungeons were spawning as fast as they were despawning. We need you to defeat the dungeon boss, a slider, in a dungeon that recently spawned. Loot the treasures if you can. The queen filled her in on info, such as what dangers are there, and gave here 4 zanite pickaxes. Confused , she asked "why are you giving me so many pickaxes? I only need one." "Trust me, you will need all of them," said the Valkyrie with a smile. "Okay then, you know what to do. I will need the bronze key it drops to prove you have beaten it. Understand?" asked the queen. Skye only nodded, exited the queen's room, and went to the bunny stables. She picked one up and put it on her head, Then proceeded to head for the entrance, but was stopped by the head Valkyrie. "You forgot your armor young lady!" she said sternly. "My bad" said Skye, running up to her room and opening the chest where all her zanite armor was stored. She quickly equipped it, and ran back to the entrance. When she stepped outside, she felt the warm glow of Aether's never-setting sun cascading and surrounding her. How she loved to be outside, except it was hindered by all the hostile Moas and Cockatrices . Deep down she could never forget what happened the first day she arrived in the hostile paradise: it would haunt her for as long as she lived. Anyway, concentrating on the task at hand, she slowly floated towards an island and surveyed the area. The queen had said the dungeon was about a mile north of the temple. She walked/floated in that general direction for about 25 mins. until she saw it. There was a large and perfectly squared entrance of holystone, covered in moss. She took the bunny off her head and instructed it to stay in place. She mined some of the mossy holystone and examined it, wishing she still had her Book of Lore with her. She pondered where it was until she remembered: she had never retrieved it from Ethan. Ethan. She couldn't stop thinking about him ever since that day they where separated by the large whirlwind. She wondered how it got so big, since growing up in the Aether, because she had seen quite a few and none where close to comparison. Shaking the thoughts out of her head she cautiously entered the dungeon, having never been in one. All of a sudden Skye heard a voice, clear and comical, say "WHAT THE FU-" followed by a large BOOOM! Skye quickly ducked as a figure went flying over her head and slammed into a wall. She thought she recognized the voice, and began thinking on whose it was. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw the entrance to the small cave close, and heard a booming voice that sounded like  
rock grating against rock. The voice boomed "WHO DARES INTERRUPT MY SLEEP?!" I_t must be the dungeon boss. But who is in there?_ thought Skye. The person's response was "Erm... It is I, Ethan the human" it said weakly. Skye gasped. _Could it be?_ She thought, hoping desperately that it was. _No_, she thought._ I'm hallucinating. I have to be_. "WELL THEN, ETHAN THE HUMAN, THIS DUNGEON SHALL BE YOUR GRAVE!" That confirmed it. The figure in the room fighting the slider was Ethan! Skye felt tears of joy well up in her eyes. She had found him at last. Her thoughts were, again, interrupted, by the sound of him slamming into a wall. That got Skye's attention as she began to furiously hack into the stone blocking the entrance. When she felt it was about to give away she threw herself against it, shattering it. She entered just in time to see the figure, presumably Ethan, get slammed into a wall and lay still. Fearing the worst, she quickly ran over to him and checked for a pulse. He's alive, thought Skye, but the relief was short lived as she too was thrown against a wall. Having warrior instincts, she quickly got up and dodged another attempt to slam her against the wall. "HE HAD A COMPANION?!" boomed the slider. "No, but he does now!" said Skye defiantly as she brought out her sword and began hacking at its eye. "I SEE YOU ARE JUST AS A FOOL AS THE OTHER ONE!" it boomed, sword strikes not seeming to affect him. She dodged as he tried yet again to slam her. Hmm, think Skye! thought Skye, as she strategized on how to beat it. Then all of a sudden everything made sense. The queen gave her extra pickaxes, and the slider was a cube of stone, so... Skye brought out her zanite pickaxe and began to strike repeatedly at it's eyes. "GAAAH!" it cried in pain. "Aha!" she said, and began to dart around the slider while striking with her pickaxe. The slider was helpless as she went so fast that she was a blur. Two of her pickaxes broke in the process, but with one final heave, she lifted her pickaxe and brought it down on the slider, making a crack in the middle and release some sort of dark smoke, witch she ignored.. Then it turned into a pile of carved stone. She examined the carved stone and found what she was looking for: a dull-brown key. She soon forgot all about it as she rushed over to a stirring Ethan. But something was wrong. When he opened her eyes, they where a dark yellowish color, instead of sharp green. He instantly stood up, quickly grabbed his sword and tried to stab it into Skye. Skye instinctively lifted hers up and blocked it. Something was definitely wrong with Ethan: he had been possesed by the dark smoke.

_AN:Hmmm. I guess that's all. Well until next time!_


	5. Chapter 5 Dark Battle

**Skye's POV**  
Something was wrong with Ethan. He had an evil aura around him. "Hi there, Skye. How have you been doing?" "Who are you and what have you done with Ethan?!" yelled Skye, getting nervous. "Ethan is still in here, but I have possessed him! So if you hit me, you hit him!" Skye was torn. She wanted to get the spirit out, but she didn't want to hurt Ethan after barely seeing him in a year. It slashed with it's sword, making a shallow cut near her stomach. She winced in pain, as she felt her life force being sucked out of her. It's a Vampire Blade! she thought. Suddenly she got an idea. She really hoped it would work. Vampire Blades were weak against one kind of sword: a Holy sword. The queen had taught her that they rarely appeared in chests in bronze dungeons. She fled the spirit and went into one of the rooms. "You can run, but you can't hide!" it cackled, as it burst through the wall. Skye frantically rummaged through the chest in the room. A gold gummy swet, 7 blue ones, and a bit of aergel... then there it was! A Holy sword, the one and very all things evil feared. Well there were more than one, but they were rare. She quickly got it out and waved it threateningly at the spirit. Its eyes suddenly widened with fear. "Y-You wouldn't!" said the spirit. "Oh wouldn't I?!" said the Skye threateningly . The Valkyries had taught her that a Holy sword could not harm good creatures, only those evil. "I warn you, if you use that you will cause your mate a lot of pain." Blushing, Skye yelled "He's not my mate!" and thrust the sword into his chest. It let out a long, demonic scream that gradually turned human as the smoke left Ethan's body. "I will return!" it vowed, before floating away. Relieved, she dropped the sword with a clang! and fell to her knees. That Vampire Blade drained nearly all her energy, and she barely managed to stay conscious as she crawled over to Ethan's side. She examined his was bleeding through his nose, and had a big lump on his head, but otherwise looked then examined his facial features. They had roughened up a bit, but otherwise they were the same as they were a year ago. "Ethan..." she whispered one last time before she lost consciousness.

Ethan's POV  
When Ethan awoke, something soft was obstructing his view. He had a dull pain in his chest, and he felt dried blood on his nose. He wriggled out from under the figure, only to find it was a familiar shape. A strikingly familiar figure. He examined it up close to find that... he recognized that face. It was the face of... no, it couldn't be, not so coincidentally. Then he remembered the one thing he knew it still had, if it was really her. He slowly opened her eye to find that... it really was her! Ethan had found Skye after a year of searching! He examined her and noticed that she had grown a little, but now looked prettier. He was overjoyed, and could only stare until something shocked him: she had a shallow gash on her stomach, and was bleeding only a little, but there was a small pool of blood under her, implying that she had been here for a while. He wondered how she had gotten it when he remembered: she must've been the one to burst into the room, and probably defeated the slider. He was temporarily ashamed that she had saved him. He also noticed that her chest plate had broken off, presumably during the battle. That's when it dawned on him what was obstructing his view when he first awoke. Blushing, he called Zeus. "Zeus, boy, get over here." he said, as he took out a healing stone from Zeus' saddle's pocket, witch contained spare supplies. It glowed a faint blue. he had learned how to make one from the Book of Lore. The very book that he never returned to Skye. He had learned everything he knew about survival from that book. He pressed it against her stomach and waited. Slowly, but surely, the wound began to close with a gurgle. A few seconds later the stone disappeared and Skye's wound was healed.

**Skye's POV**  
When Skye came to, she was lying down, and a figure was looking down at her. Quick as lightning, she grabbed for her sword, but it wasn't there. It must've disarmed me while I slept, thought Skye, reaching behind her for a lightning knife to throw at it. Suddenly the events of before caught up to her as she remembered who that figure was, and dropped the knife she was holding. "E-ethan?" she said cautiously. "Skye?" it said as well. "Ethan!" said Skye, as tears of joy welled up in her eyes, and ran towards him, tackling him and embracing him on the floor. She took in his scent, witch smelled of grass. Surprised at her speed, Ethan stayed frozen for a few seconds, then hugged back.

**Ethan's POV**  
When he saw Skye stir, he expected her to be surprised. Instead she jumped ninja-like off the floor and reached for her sword. Its still in the slider's room, he thought. He briefly wondered why they weren't in that room, but was interrupted when she pulled out some sort of knife, but dropped it and stared in shock. Ethan wondered if something was wrong with him, until she spoke and stuttered "E-ethan?" "Skye?" he asked, overjoyed that she remembered him."Ethan!" she said with a smile spreading on her face. Suddenly, she ran towards him and half tackled, half hugged him. He was shocked at first, but recovered and began hugging back. He noticed that she smelled like golden amber. They hugged for a while, and he noticed her starting to cry. "I missed you so much." she said tearfully as she laughed with joy. "I missed you, too" said Ethan. The moment was interrupted when a voice said "Are you two lovebirds done?" said the figure. It was a female, but not quite human because of the wings that sprouted on her back. Blushing, Skye got off of him as he stood up and drew his sword. "Skye, do you know this creature?" It asked while glaring at Ethan. "Yes, this is Ethan. Ethan, this is the head of the Valkyries, the ones who took care of me and trained me." "I came to see why you were taking so long to find you doing this?" " No, I can explain..." "Well then, explain!" So Skye explained, and Ethan was shocked when she got to the part about him being possessed. "Am I the one who gave you that wound?" asked Ethan. "Yea but when I woke up it was gone." "That's because I healed it with a healing stone. "Oh. Well thanks" The Valkyrie interjected in the conversation by saying " We must go back to the temple. Will he be coming?" "Will you?" Skye asked Ethan with pleading eyes that he just couldn't resist. "Of course I will!" said Ethan. "But there is a problem," said the Valkyrie. I only brought an aerbunny. No moas. I can easily fly back, but both of you will have to walk." "No we won't" responded Ethan. I have a white moa." "Good then, both of you can follow me. Well then, let's go!" "Wait! We haven't looted the chests! And I forgot my sword!" said Skye, remembering the chest she got the Holy sword from. "Okay then, I'll wait here for you. Hurry along now!"

_Well that's it! R and R!_


	6. Chapter 6 The Silver Dungeon

Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in a while, but my internet is screwed up. Anyway, without further ado, we're off!

Skye's POV  
Skye walked into the room were she had defeated the slider, and where Ethan had been possessed. She looked around to find her zanite sword lying on the ground. She picked it up and began making her way back to the entrance, when she remembered the chests. She walked into the room it was in, and found it sitting there, waiting to be opened. She collected the aergel, swets, and the other stuff that were in it. She closed the chest and left it there, figuring that she already had enough chests at the dungeon. Not including the mimics. Mimics were monsters that looked like chests and stood absolutely still until someone tried to open them, then they would chomp on the intruder's hand. She had nearly lost her right arm after an incident with them.  
She hurried to the entrance, where Ethan was getting on his moa and the Valkyrie was getting ready for flight. "Now try to keep up!" said the Valkyrie, as she took off into the skies of Aether. "Did you hear that, boy? She just challenged your speed." Skye quickly got on his back as Zeus followed the Valkyrie. She was no match for him as he quickly passed the surprised-looking Valkyrie. He slowed down only enough for her to lead the way, otherwise keeping ahead of her. The temple she was trained in soon came into view, and they landed in front of it. She got off and took Ethan's hand as she lead him towards the temple. "Uh, so this is where you were raised?" he asked a bit nervously.

Ethan's POV  
When Ethan saw the temple, he couldn't help but hesitate. He knew about those, the silver dungeons, but had never seen one up close. he knew that you had to defeat 10 Valkyries, get the medals, and challenge the queen. As they walked inside, he nervously asked "Uh, so this is where you were raised?" "No, not raised, trained." He looked at her surprisingly. "They trained you here?!" "Duh, how do you think I saved you?" Ethan felt his shame return momentarily, but he shook it off. She began to catch up on what she had been doing ever since they got separated, each telling stories about what they had done as they waited to meet the queen. Once caught up they were summoned in the queen's room. "So I heard you passed your final exam." said the queen proudly. "I knew you could do it, never doubted you."

A few hours earlier

_She's not going to make it_, thought the queen.

Present  
"Though I did encounter a problem," said Skye. "And what would that be?" asked the queen. "Some weird black smoke came out of the slider and possessed Ethan." The queen suddenly went pale. "Did Ethan, perhaps, have a dark aura around him and yellow eyes?" "Um, yea. Why?" The queen suddenly stood up. "Then I fear our time is running out." "What do you mean?" "That black smoke that possessed him shouldn't have been able to be defeated. How did you do it?" "I used this," said Skye, holding up the Holy Sword. "Ah, evil's bane. Keep that sword with you, as it is the only thing that stopped it from killing you. Well I guess you are now ready. You are the fastest-learning warrior we ever had the honor of training, considering it's been only a year. Now it is time for you to fulfill your destiny." She turned at Ethan. " Well I suppose you'll be accompanying her?" "Of course." "But we don't know if you're worthy." At this Ethan brought out his sword and said "I can prove I'm ready." "You wish to challenge this silver dungeon?! You could never win!" "Try me," said Ethan with confidence. The queen nodded, and ten Valkyries marched into the room. "Very well then, we accept your challenge." One Valkyrie stepped forward and held up her iron sword. She charged at Ethan with sword held high. He easily sidestepped and tripped the Valkyrie, then held his sword to her throat. She admitted defeat and left the room. The queen was surprised at his speed, and the fact that the Valkyrie was defeated so easily. Another one stepped out of line, and held her sword up. Ethan raised his and charged with blinding speed, creating a small gash on her left arm. She countered with her own slash, but only managed to make a small scratch on his armor. He hit her with the hilt of his sword on the head, and she fell to the floor. The next Valkyrie that stepped up wasn't so easy to defeat. She kept dodging his blows and Ethan had a hard time blocking hers. He knew he couldn't attack her head on, so he tried to think of ideas as he blocked and dodged. Then he got an idea. He climbed the nearby golden tree speedily and waited. Sure enough the Valkyrie flew up towards him, ready to strike. He grabbed some golden amber and quickly threw it in her face. She screeched and lost her balance, falling like a damaged airplane. All the rest were easy, and Ethan took them out until the last one was left. "Oh no, not me! I'm calling for my commander!" (Earthbound reference) She said as she ran out of the room. "Well, well. It looks like you managed to defeat nine Valkyries, and I'll let you past the 10th one. Very well then, this will be your final battle."  
She stood up and unsheathed her gold sword. She stood in a fighting stance and Ethan got in his. The queen attacked first. She slashed diagonally and he jumped back to dodge it. He then took the opportunity to strike, and stabbed forward. She blocked and flew up high. Seemingly out of nowhere lightning came down on Ethan and he saw flashes across his eyes. He recovered just as the queen slashed from above. He then had a thought. If she plays dirty so do I, he thought as he brought out a tube-shaped object with a purple tip(no, not that kind). A dart shooter. He dodged once more and loaded a dart into it.

Skye's POV

The fight had begun between Ethan and the queen. It seemed as if they were evenly matched, when she decided to use thunder. It struck him and he sizzled and looked dazed, but recovered just in time to avoid another strike. Then she saw him bring out a purple-headed tube-shaped object. SHe immediately recognized it. It was a dart shooter, but not a regular one. It was a poison dart shooter that shot darts like the ones that always haunted her. She watched as he loaded one into it, and shoot it. It hit the queen in her leg, and she quickly landed. "Ah, poison. I should have known." The poison was all Ethan needed to get the advantage. She began to move more slowly, her attack power waned. With one final heave Ethan kicked her in her chest and she collapsed backwards. Ethan had won.

Again, sorry for not updating in a while. My internet was all messed up. Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7 Departure

Hey guys. Sorry for not updating for a while, but then again my internet was all jumbled up. Anyway, without further ado, we're off!

Ethan's POV

After Ethan had won the battle against the queen, he began celebrating on the inside. But one glance at Skye told him she was about to collapse. He rushed over to her and caught her as she was falling. He examined her, and tried to figure out the cause of her sudden collapse, when it hit him like a ton of holystone. The poison darts, he realized, instantly feeling stupid for not remembering. But it had won him the battle against the queen, proving he was worthy to make the journey with Skye. There was stirring behind him as he set Skye down gently, then turned around. The queen stood, still feeling a bit woozy. "You, sir, are a badass," said the queen, then collapsed. "..." Ethan said, confused. "What was in those?" he wondered, as he scooped Skye up and carried her to a Valkyrie to have her taken to her room. He went over and examined her, trying to discover the source of her non-queen like behavior. He then saw she was being carried away by Valkyries, who were casting him cold glares. He decided to let them tend to her for a while, then decided to visit Skye. He asked for directions to her room, then began to wonder the temple in search of it. He then saw it, and knocked. Naturally, nobody answered, so he entered uninvited. He saw her laying on her bed with food and water next to her on the floor (Not a good place to put food). He looked around her room, taking in the place in which she was trained for a year. He saw good selection of books, all which were worn. Then one caught his eye. It was the largest one of them all. He grabbed it and looked at the title. When he saw it he dropped it, landing on the floor with a thud. It flipped open to reveal pages that were...blank. But that's not the part that startled him. On the title, very clearly, it said "The Book of Lore volume 3:The Aether." He picked up and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. It was. It was the Book of Lore! A part of Ethan was instantly joyed that it had not been lost forever. But he briefly wondered how she had gotten into possession of it, when she began stirring.

Skye's POV

When Skye awoke she immediately noticed that she wasn't alone in her room. Her warrior training kicked in, and she kept her eyes closed, only opening to a very slight squint. She saw a figure, but couldn't see it clearly. She heard a thud, and saw whatever it was holding drop to the floor. The object was the Book of Lore. She was suddenly angry that the figure would try to steal it. In her anger she forgot to stay still and the figure turned toward her. She couldn't hold it anymore, so she gathered all the muscle in her legs and arms and sprang up. The figure was so startled that it fell backwards and she landed on it. She pinned its hands and legs to the ground and heard a startled gasp. She let out one of her own when she realized who it was, and the ton of holystone that hit Ethan earlier came back for another swing and hit her. She realized it was Ethan and jumped off him, feeling embarrassed. He stood up rubbing his head and looking at her in awe. He stood dumbfounded for a few seconds, until Skye broke the silence. "Sorry, are you alright?" she asked. "I'll live. Are You alright?" he asked. "Yea, I guess." Skye felt unnerved by his gaze. "Well, it appears I passed. But something was with that poison. Something that made the queen act drunk-ish. I guess the plant was sick or something."

Flashback  
Ethan approached the Acheor with caution. It didn't seem very dangerous, as it was swaying slowly back and forth. What Ethan didn't know was it was overproducing poison, and the poison no longer poisoned the victim but it traveled to its brain where the happy and silly memories were stored. The bad poison then released them all and made the victim look and act high. That is all.

Present  
"Since I know deem worthy to travel with you, why don't we visit the queen to say our last goodbyes.?" They made their way to her chamber, where a Valkyrie was standing guard. She cast a cold glare at Ethan's direction as they passed, but Ethan didn't acknowledge it as they walked inside. The queen was lying on the bed with her eyes wide open, and they approached her. When they got beside her she sat up, wide-eyed, and said "I'm h-happy." She said in a monotonous voice. It instantly creeped both of them out and the queen arose. She swayed a little, but refused to fall to her bed. Skye then got an idea. She walked up to the queen and smacked the f*** out of her. She instantly regained her senses. Relief spread across her face. "What was in that poison?!" she said angrily. "Sorry, just a case of bad poison. Anyway, I have proven myself worthy have I not?" said Ethan in the most like-a-sir voice he could muster. "I guess you have. At least you know how to battle creatively." said the queen warily. "Well, I shall give you some valuable supplies before you leave. Come," she said, as she made her way to the treasure room. When the got to it, the queen leaned into it and muttered a word into it. The room opened with a grinding noise, and they stepped inside. The queen picked up a red bow that radiated heat of some sort and said "Use that book of yours to find out what these objects do. "How did you-" "I've known ever since we rescued you. It is a book rumored to be merely a legend. Though I must ask, how did you come into possession of it?" said the queen curiously. Skye realized that she never mentioned the book to the queen when she explained her spawning. She explained how it was the only thing she had when she came into this world. The queen accepted the story and without anymore delay, handed them all the treasures she thought they would need, and they would be on their way. At the entrance, Skye turned around, walked towards the queen, and embraced her tightly. The queen returned it. A hint of tears came to her eyes as she walked outside. Before they departed the queen slipped a strange golden feather into her palm. "Wear this on you, and you will never get hurt by falling. Understand?" Skye nodded and the queen stood as she watched Ethan and Skye depart aboard Zeus. Their journey had begun.


End file.
